The pleasure received by the works of authors takes us to places our imaginations can run free and emotions tapped into that normal life may not present or will be one familiar to our senses and allow us to recall memories from the past that touched our lives.

2017 was wonderful for the creativity for those who put their thoughts together and create stories that have left us better for their efforts. Here is a list of the top 5 books from the year 2017, we hope you will enjoy them as much as we did.

1. Climate Change and the Health of Nations – Anthony McMichael
This book will inspire you to recall times when war, plagues and famine brought instability to our world and how so many of us fail to stop and pay attention to the changes around us climate-wise. Our day to day lives seem to tick by, and subtle changes to our climate generate reasoning, if even illogical, we all are guilty of looking the other way versus being inconvenienced and changing our destructive habits. The book focuses on climate change and how those changes have never been on the scale of today. Anthony McMichael looks at how society and the complexity of its size is impacting the stability of our environment – a book that will open your eyes and drive change.

2. American War – El Akkad
American War is a title that will grab the attention of the masses, especially under the current global conditions that seem only to worsen as the world’s population increases and supply and demand see’s new challenges. This book takes us to the 22nd century and into a time when America is in the midst of a second civil war. It chronicles the life of Benjamin Chestnut and his struggles with cancer and the story he wishes to tell about his aunt and the beginning of the war. It is a narrative that is both compelling and flawlessly told.

3. Lincoln in the Bardo – George Saunders
While many parts of this book are presented in the form of script, it is the first its author George Saunders. The book is set during 1862 and follows the death of Willie, Lincoln’s eleven-year-old son from the ravages of typhoid fever and how his son is unaware of his pending demise. The book discusses the feelings of uncertainty, which most will relate to and covers eyewitness accounts that clashed about the night of his passing.

4 .The Burning Girl – Claire Messud
A book that looks into the lives of tween-aged girls; it references pop-culture that has readers visiting a mental asylum and quarry that is haunted. A book for young adults, its fictional style goes into the connection and disconnect of young females. The novel is both enticing, impulsive and offers readers a look into its characters intense emotional intellect.

5. Solitude: A singular Life in a Crowed World – Michael Harris
The latest book from author Michael Harris, it takes you into the single life of its character in a world that is polluted with social pressures in a Rubicon generation and what has been lost socially as a result of the intense and constant barrage of social media and the constant connection to the internet. As you delve into the book, Harris recounts his attempts at being offline for a month and experiencing solitary after the realisation of he has yet to spend a single day alone in his life